Product Description

The Sunday Times bestselling account of Napoleon's invasion of Russia and eventual retreat from Moscow, events that had a profound effect on the subsequent course of Russian and European history. The saga of Napoleon's invasion of Russia and catastrophic retreat from Moscow has both fascinated military historians and captured the imagination of millions on an emotional and human level. 1812 tells the story of how the most powerful man on earth met his doom, and how the greatest fighting force ever assembled was wiped out. Over 400,000 French and Allied troops died on the disastrous Russian campaign, with the vast majority of the casualties occuring during the frigid winter retreat. Adam Zamoyski tells their story with incredible detail and sympathy, drawing on a wealth of first-hand accounts of the tragedy to create a vivid portrait of an unimaginable catastrophe. By 1810 Napoleon was master of Europe, defied only by Britain and its naval power. His intention was to destroy Britain through a total blockade, the Continental System. But Tsar Alexander of Russia refused to apply the blockade, and Napoleon decided to bring him to heel. The brutality of the following military campaign and the importance of its ramifications on Russian, French, German and, indeed, European history and culture cannot be understated. Adam Zamoyski's epic, enthralling narrative is the definitive account of the events of that dramatic year.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44192 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 672 pages

Review
'Zamoyski's book is a brilliant piece of narrative history, full of sparkling set-pieces, a wholly fascinating account of what must be reckoned one of the greatest military disasters of all time.' Sunday Telegraph 'No review can do justice to the scholarly integrity and human sensitivity of this book, or to the horror is describes ! 1812 is one of the greatest stories ever told.' Christopher Woodward, Spectator 'Adam Zamoyski's account of the 1812 campaign is so brilliant that it is impossible to put the book aside ! A master craftsman at work.' Sunday Times 'An utterly admirable book. It combines clarity of thought and prose with a strong narrative drive.' Daily Telegraph

Evening Standard
'Graphically told in heartbreaking detail... Zamoyski elegantly delivers gripping storytelling, bold revisionism and poignant suffering.'

The Spectator
'Magnificent... the description of the retreat is one of the most vivid and horrifying passages of history I have read...'

Customer Reviews

A masterpiece of historical narrative
This book offers a lucid account of both the military and diplomatic aspects of Napoleon's disastrous Russian campaign. Its greatest strength lies in an exceptionally graphic account of the experience of the Napoleonic soldiery on the march to, and in the retreat from, Moscow. We are not spared harrowing details of suffering from heat and cold, but we also meet many examples of heroism and generosity, most movingly told. Many of the details have an almost hallucinatory vividness. It has greatly enriched my own sense of the pathos of history and of the potentialities of human nature in conditions of extreme trial.
My one criticism of the book is that, if one compares it to Antony Beevor's classic book on Stalingrad, which pays equal attention to the experience of the Russian and of the German soldiery, this book is one-sided. Zamoyski, as a learned and judicious historian, has a right to argue that the standard Russian account of the campaign is a patriotic myth and that the weather did more than the Russian army to defeat the French, but the focus remains too strongly on the invaders: the heroism and suffering of the ordinary Russian soldiery is not treated with the same sympathy and attention to detail as is accorded to the French (and the Poles). This book remains, however, a masterpiece of story-telling. It deserves the huge success one may confidently predict for it.

Stunning, a triumph
I'm really not sure if I can do this book enough justice in the space of a tiny review. Before reading it I was, like many others perhaps, very much aware that Napoleon's march on Moscow was a turning point in his career and in European history, but apart from that, well... largely ignorant. Reading Zamoyski's book changed all that, and the only regret I have is not having read it earlier.

"1812" is a stunning history book! The 25 chapters are 'bite-size', just the right size to read at least one chapter each evening before going to bed (or two, or three... I found it very hard to put this book down), and in them Zamoyski gives a fascinating account of the entire campaign (beginning with the reasons why, and ending with the aftermath). In doing so he strikes a perfect balance between on the one hand a crystal-clear analysis of the broader political/military scene and motivations of the principal actors, and on the other hand lots of small but telling anecdotes.

One of the things that struck me most is how (as Zamoyski clearly demonstrates) few of the events were the result of intelligent, strategic decisions taken with clear goals in mind, but rather how one thing led to another and decisions were often reduced to the choice between the lesser of two evils. It's astonishing really, and all the more so if you come to realize the enormous cost in human misery and lives resulting from these decisions.

Zamoyski includes literally hundreds of extracts of private correspondence, notes, diaries, etc. from Napoleon and Tsar Alexander themselves down to foot soldiers, which don't detract from the main story but always succeed very well in illustrating the point Zamoyski is trying to make. I'm sure most of us are aware Napoleon's Grande Armée didn't have a field day in this campaign, but just how horrific it actually was is perhaps never better said than in the (often very moving) words of the actual participants. Last but not least the book contains 23 simple but clear maps, and is written in impeccable English.

This is a real feast from cover to cover!

One of the most horrible retreats in history
Napoleon's invasion of Russia is a well-known event, but how much is generally known about it? The usual picture is a bunch of French soldiers freezing, a rag-tag band of men trudging their way out of the depths of Russia and back to where they came from, the snow and cold being more of a weapon than the Russians. Some people may have heard of the battle of Borodino but have no idea that it happened during this invasion. This lack of historical knowledge can be greatly rectified by picking up Adam Zamoyski's Moscow 1812: Napoleon's Fatal March. This book is excellent, brought down just a touch by the extensive detail Zamoyski gives us about the retreat. While I wouldn't normally call that a bad thing (and it generally isn't in this book), it does get a bit oppressive for the reader at times.

Zamoyski covers a wide range in this rather large book. He begins by giving a bit of the history of the Napoleonic conflicts. He doesn't go into great detail about them, but he does set up the political situation that both France and Russia were in right before Napoleon's decision to invade. He also gives a chapter to each of the rulers involved, detailing Alexander's strengths and weaknesses (Alexander is generally less known among the history non-fans) in regards to military as well as political matters. The politics of the situation set up, Zamoyski then sets the stage for one of the greatest debacles of all time. Napoleon keeps insisting that he doesn't want war with Russia, and if Alexander would just be a good boy and subjugate himself like he should, then Napoleon wouldn't have to do this. He doesn't seem to realize that the humiliation he's already forced Alexander to suffer will keep Alexander from doing it again. Thus, Napoleon's arrogance will finally cause him to meet his match.

Zamoyski sets the scene beautifully, in clear, interesting chapters that give the reader just enough detail without going too far. He delves into the make-up of Napoleon's army, the various satellite states, and even how the French soldier was typically outfitted. Some of this may sound boring, but Zamoyski keeps it fairly light, and it has even greater meaning later on in the book when soldiers are casting off as many possessions as they can to lighten their load, or when national divisions start to show their cracks as conditions worsen.

It's amazing, in a campaign that took at least five months, how little fighting there actually was. Sure, there was skirmishing, and the Russian pursuit of the fleeing French army which resulted in a few pitched battles and a lot of sniping, but Borodino is the only major battle. Zamoyski does a great job giving details for this battle, as well as all the subsequent ones when the French had to turn and fight during the retreat in order to avoid annihilation. The maps in this book are wonderful, giving positions of all the various armies, the leaders and the units they led, all of which match neatly the description which is on the same page or two that the map is. My one major complaint about a lot of military history books is how the maps are often elsewhere, but Moscow 1812 does a wonderful job with this. The reader can follow along with no problem, and see, both visually and mentally, exactly what happened.

Moscow 1812 spends almost half of the book on the actual retreat from the captured Moscow, and this is where it drags slightly. Not that it isn't interesting, because I found it fascinating. What happens, though, is that the book almost becomes oppressive. Zamoyski gives us a lot of detail about the retreat, all the way down to the cannibalism at the end when there was no food to be had. He details the cold, the snow, how the soldiers managed to survive, and how many of them didn't. Granted, there were some actual battles in this part, and Zamoyski does his usual good job with these, but then we get back to the retreat, and the freezing to death. I alternately loved and hated this part, and I do think it went on a bit too long. Some of the detail is not for the squeamish, including vivid descriptions of the affects of frostbite on a man walking.

That being said, I think it was important for us to get a lot of that detail. I have always known about the great retreat in concept, and that it was bitterly cold, and that Napoleon lost a lot of his men and his army was basically destroyed. I had, however, no idea just how horrible it was, and this book brought that home. The Cossacks in this book are especially effective, as they almost seem like a horrible force of nature rather than a group of men. They are always hovering on the outskirts of the retreat, waiting for people to fall to the roadside, swooping in to strip them of their valuables. We hear a lot about the brutality of the Cossacks, both in the raiding as well as the escorting of prisoners. This is an important story, and I'm very glad I read this book.

The best part of Moscow 1812 is that it is extensively researched, with a lot of footnotes. Most of these notes are from primary sources, letters home from the soldiers, or journals. Some of these are from letters that Zamoyski later says were never delivered, which implies that a Russian soldier found them and kept them. This is the story of the retreat told by those who were there, and it's all the more powerful for it.

If you have any interest in military history or Napoleon, and if you don't have a weak stomach, Moscow 1812 is the book for you.

David Roy